Once again too much time has elapsed since I last introduced you to a local Mum building a brand in our gorgeous county. Today I interview MumBoss member Annabelle (or Belle) Gallagher.

CMQH: Hi Belle – lovely to have you as a member of the Club and I’m excited to introduce you and your business to the CheltenhaMaman readers. Let’s prioritise here… first question is always for you to tell us about your small people?

Belle: I have a little girl called Ivy Aurora who turns one on 23rd May. She is an amazing little lady and is now such a happy loving baby following a tough birth and a horrible time with colic! Since we sorted all that out she is just fabulous incredibly chatty and loves swimming, her books and the swings. I can be found in Pitville park every morning from 9.30 for her daily swing session!

So tell us about your journey to becoming a MumBoss. Was it something you had always planned or did you fall into it? And why did you choose this particular industry?

Having worked in marketing for the past 12 years in a rangeof different industries; medical, finance, manufacturing and sports hospitality, when i got married I realised that I should be using my design and marketing skills to create stationery for weddings, birthdays and special occasions. I loved planning myown wedding and helping my close friends plan theirs and I realised that it is such a fantastic industry to work in because all of your customers are so excited about what they are doing.

It is one of the happiest times of their lives and it is a time where the bride and groom can be really creative and ask for whatever they want (within reason – if their budget allows) I dont think there is another industry where you will find such happy customers – a tad stressed on occasion but they are happy and excited which makes me excited. I had been doing this alongside working full time for 5 years before I became a Mum. After Ivy was born I realised I didnt want to be away from her all week in an office and I wanted to make the most of the time we had together.

Having said that I also wanted to continue to work. Setting up Bellapeach Creative seemed like the best option as I can work around bringing up Ivy and making the most of the sunny days in the park!!

I create wedding stationery, including save the dates, invites, RSVPs, song request cards, menu cards, order of the day boards, order of the day services, etc. I’ve also added birthday, chiristening and party invitations and as my background is marketing, logos and leaflets.

We talk a lot in the MumBoss club about how vulnerable and lonely you can be as freelancer. How do you keep yourself motivated?

In a previous role I worked a lot on my own with the rest of my team based in America so I am used to it and find itfairly easy to motivate myself with a cup of tea, chocolate and Alexa to keep me enterained. Ivy is a big distraction, she just wants to chat and play, so i work in the evenings a lot when she’s gone to bed and when her dad is around at the weekend. But she is starting nursery one day a week from June so Mondays will be my office day!

If you could reverse time to when you set up what would you have done differently?

Well honestly it’s too early to tell but I would love some advice on how to manage your time from other working mums!

Do you have any nuggets of advice you could share with MumBosses?

Follow your dream, if you want something bad enough just do it. You never know what you can do when you put your mind to it and it is always worth giving your dream a go!

So what’s next for your business? How can our readers find out more about you and the services you offer?

I’ve not yet actively marketed my business –it has grown through word of mouth and now it’s time to start getting my name out there – hence this interview! I plan to attend a few more wedding fairs this year to meet more happy couples. I also want to promote my party invitations, all of my designs are bespoke so I can create any design people want to make their celebration special. So birthdays, anniversaries, christenings – you name it!

2 Comments

Hello, after attending the guilty mother club event you held last year, I had quite an awakening and confidence to try and do what makes me happy. It’s taken a while but I’ve finally started my blog, and planning my business idea has definitely started. I would love to do a guest blog post if you ever need anyone and was wondering if I could be put on you’re waiting list. I think the book publishing talk at the next madman goes pop is going to be perfect for me and my plans and dreams. Hoping tickets will be left ok payday!!

So sorry I’ve only just picked this message up after my holiday. How exciting! I’d love to have you write for the blog and in the club when you are ready. Just email me on cheltenhammaman@gmail.com whenever you are ready. Kate x